Capetonian artist Leigh Cupido, currently based in Denmark, was among a select group chosen to create graffitti murals at this year's Roskilde Festival.

Art features prominently at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival. Its annual graffiti art project has been going since 1999 and this year South African artist Leigh Cupido was among a select group chosen to create murals at the Festival in July.

A quick look at Leigh’s mural and those distinctive glasses could have you thinking ‘Spoek Mathambo’, but his take on the project’s ‘pop art’ theme was inspired by a young Stevie Wonder – one of the headliners at Roskilde 2014.

Leigh might not even have heard about Roskilde Festival if he hadn’t gone to a party in Observatory, Cape Town and fallen in love with the Danish student he eventually followed to Copenhagen. He was one of several hundred artists who submitted applications from all over the world to volunteer at Roskilde’s graffiti project where more than 100 artists decorate 1km of walls.

Most of the murals are created by street artists including Denmark’s Huskmitnavn (‘remember my name’) and British artist Pref. But the project is not limited to street artists. Conceptual artist Kristian von Hornsleth, one of Denmark’s most prominent artists, also created a mural this year.

A major part of the art project is the graffiti workshop giving novice artists who aren’t used to having free access to lots of spray paint the opportunity to get creative alongside the volunteer artists from around the world.

An artist and illustrator, Leigh has painting since 2007 and is part of the Cape Town based Core collective that also includes Rayaan Cassiem, Anwar Davids and Amedeo Bisogno. Earlier this year, the Core Collective was commissioned to create a 5mx12m mural in Woodstock to mark the launch of the Creation Generation Media project. The collective has also previously participated in the El Qasbah street festival in the United Arab Emirates.